Government Shutdown Looms
WASHINGTON — House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) upped the odds of a government shutdown Thursday, saying he would not support a short-term funding bill if his near-certain budget battle between the House and the Democratic-run Senate takes longer than two weeks.
As the clock ticks down to March 4, when the current stopgap funding measure expires, Boehner shot down what many considered to be the surest way to keep government agencies running while the two chambers hammer out the differences between their respective spending bills.
“We are hopeful that the Senate will take up the House‑passed bill that comes out of here today, tonight, tomorrow morning, whenever it is, and we hope that they will move it,” he said at a press conference. “But I am not going to move any kind of short‑term CR at current levels. When we say we’re going to cut spending, read my lips: We are going to cut spending.”
If this happens, and I have no doubt it will because John Boehner’s not very bright and has little control over the lunatics his party cultivated for the past couple of years, it will be a different kind of shutdown than the one engineered by Gingrich in the 1990s. In that case, President Clinton vetoed the budget that had been passed by the Republicans: In this case, the Republican budget as written won’t pass the Senate, which has its own priorities. So there’s no way the budget will be ready by the March 4th deadline, hence the need for a congressional resolution, which Mr. Boehner has just foreclosed on. So if the Republicans think they’re going to be able to blame this on Mr. Obama, they may have another thing coming. The Republican line, as always, is “do what we say or else.” This one is THEIR baby. They can’t blame it on Obama, and they can’t even blame the Senate Democrats, because the Senate Republicans like Scott Brown and Dick Lugar (sorry, can’t find the link) have come out against some of the cuts as well.
Boehner and the GOP freshmen insist they will not accept a bill with one penny less than their $100 billion in cuts, and if they don’t get it, the government shuts down until they do. , in case you’ve forgotten:
Unless Boehner backs down, what this means is that if the House fails to pass a spending bill that can pass the Senate and receive President Obama’s signature by March 4, funding for the federal government will expire and there will be a federal government shutdown. Everything from Social Security to air travel to environmental regulations to Medicare will be impacted.
No social security checks and no Medicare: how’s that going to work out? Business flights, shut down: how’s THAT gonna work out? here’s a longer list from the kaplan Daily Washington Post:
some veterans might not receive benefits checks and other Americans would be unable to apply for Social Security. The State Department might not issue new passports, unemployment statistics would not publish as scheduled, museums and national parks would close, and worse — piles of elephant manure might pile up in a National Zoo parking lot because workers can’t ship it away for composting.
“manure” is a kind word for what republicans leave in their wake, but I digress:
Cities and states relying on federal funds would also have to spend unavailable cash. During the Nov. 1995 shutdown, the District of Columbia saved about $1.2 million daily by keeping some offices closed, but concurrently spent $4.4 million to cover the salaries of 26,000 employees normally paid with federal funds. At the same time, Maryland’s state government spent $1.4 million a day to cover the salaries of 9,680 state workers also paid with federal dollars.
I say, “BRING. IT. ON. MOTHERFUCKERS.” This is going to fall squarely on the Republicans, just like it did last time, and the Democrats are going to bash them over the heaqd repeatedly. You can already see the ads: “House Majority Leader John Boehner and the Republicans shut down the government and kept millions of grandmothers from receiving their social security, and why? Because Democrats wouldn’t cut $750 million from WIC, which provides nutrition for low-income pregnant mothers.”
FLASHBACK: The last Government shutdown had major consequences for American families:
* More than 400,000 veterans saw their disability benefits and pension claims delayed
* Educational benefits were delayed for 170,000 veterans
* Instead of providing benefits to veterans, a number of VA hospitals were forced to set up food banks for their employees who were going without pay checks
* Approximately $3 billion in U.S. exports couldn’t leave the country because the Commerce Department couldn’t issue export licenses
* For the first time in the federal unemployment program’s 60-year history, six states ran out of federal funds to pay unemployment benefits
* Processing and deportation of illegal immigrants stopped, and employers were unable to verify job applicants’ immigration status
* 10,000 new Medicare applications and 212,000 Social Security requests were delayed
* Tens of thousands of Americans could not purchase a home because the Federal Housing Administration was unable to insure single family home loans
* EPA’s enforcement activities were stopped and toxic waste clean-up at more than 600 sites slowed or came to a halt
* 95% of workplace safety activities were halted
* The Department of Interior stopped inspecting oil and gas well on public lands
* 760,000 American workers were either furloughed or worked without pay
* 200,000 U.S. applications for passports went unprocessed
And the headlines were beautiful. Bring it on, dunces.
